The 3rd Time was the Charm for This Sierra

Has it ever taken you two, three, even four times to get something just right? No one knows that better than Clyde Barela Jr. of Apple Valley, California. His 2001 GMC Sierra saw three different renditions before he was finally happy with it. Clyde bought the truck back in 2002 and it was finally finished nine years later.

Clyde first took his Sierra to State Street Welding in Barstow, California. While there, the front spindles were removed and replaced with McGaughy’s 2-inch drop versions. Choppin’ Block tubular arms were also bolted on for a slammed stance. Out back, a custom four-link was built with a Panhard bar. For adjustability, Slam Specialties ’bags were bolted in and plumbed with 3/8-inch line to 1/2-inch valves. To really set off the look, Clyde went with a set of Raceline Imperials in size 24x9½-inch up front and 24x10-inch out back. He then turned his attention to the body.

Clyde wanted his truck to look like nothing else on the road. To do this, he had the cab and bed removed from the frame. This allowed the frame to be cut up for a stock-floor body drop. The rear wheeltubs were cut out, widened, and welded back in higher up and a bridge was built over the rearend. Under the hood, the firewall was shaved, and tubs were welded into place. All of the electrical components were moved from inside the engine compartment to the cab for a super-clean look. Rather than leave the Sierra front clip, Clyde had a second-generation Escalade front clip installed. After having the door handles shaved, the truck was primered and sprayed with jet-black paint by Eddie Antillon of El Mirage, Arizona. Alex Lopez of El Mirage, then came in and sprayed purple graphics onto the side and tailgate. To finish off the paint, Rick Wescott, also of El Mirage, came in and airbrushed Day of the Dead inspired faces.

Moving inside the doors of the extended cab, A and C Upholstery in Nuevo, California, chopped the front and rear seats and wrapped them in black leather and suede. Black Porsche carpet then went in and the seats were reinstalled. Next, the truck went to Extreme Audio and Kustoms in Riverside, California, to have the audio taken care of. The first step was to take the dash and door panels out and send them to be painted. With those out of the way, a center console was built to fill the gap between the front and rear seats. This center console is also the home of two 12-inch Kicker L7 Solo-Baric subs. The rest of the audio system consists of two Kicker amps, four sets of Kicker 6½-inch components, and an Alpine flip-out 7-inch touchscreen head unit.

After picking his truck up, Clyde was stoked on the final product. He says that it took three different versions of his truck for him to finally be happy with it. Clyde wanted to send a special thank you to everyone that helped him on this build, his No Regrets family, and a huge thanks to Tom and Eddie.